Chapter 8: Project Isekai

“So do I get to be reincarnated in another world?”

Abeona looked at the soul in front of her, a flicker of sorrow in her eyes. “No, this isn’t that type of reincarnation. You’d go back to your world, as any living organism of your choice. Maybe a shark?” she suggested.

“Oh”, the soul hung its head in disappointment, “I was hoping for like, an anime reincarnation. You know? Cool monsters, overpowered magic... that awesome Isekai anime type stuff.”

“Isekai...” Abeona sighed; this was the forty-second person this week to make that request. One she, at least for now, was unable to grant. “Unfortunately, that order is not on the menu, I can offer you reincarnation as an eagle? That’s a pretty popular choice.”

The soul looked up hopefully “A magical eagle in another world?”

The goddess shook her head “Unfortunately no, just a regular eagle, in the regular world.”

Resigned to its fate, the soul despondently responded, “I’ll take the shark”.

After finishing processing the soul, Abeona recorded the request on her tablet, under a file marked “Project Isekai”.

“Another soul’s desire unfulfilled” She muttered sadly to herself. Abeona realised this was the five thousandth request for an ‘Isekai reincarnation’ since she’d began keeping records of such requests.

“That should finally be enough” she whispered hopefully to herself.

Once her lunch break from her job began, Abeona could resume work on her own personal project. She opened a file she had obtained from a god named “Tezuka”, who had graciously provided her with vital research material.

Abeona read a human crafted tale on screen, something she’d come to know as ‘manga’. The story was told via a series of beautifully drawn monochromatic images, which despite being simple lines on a page, somehow brimmed with life.

Abeona was taking notes in another tab as she read. “Extreme powers, daring heroes, endearing companions, captivating creatures” she noted. “No wonder this stuff has captured the imagination of so many mortal souls.”

“What’s even better... worlds like these do actually exist, so it should in theory be simple to ship over souls”. She considered.

“Not slacking on the job are we dear sister?” A voice chimed.

Abeona dismissively waved her arm as if she was trying to lazily swat an annoying fly “Adiona, I’m on my break, buzz off”.

“Now that’s no way to speak to your supervisor” Adiona cooed. “I should have known you’d be wasting your time with those silly human fantasy stories again”.

“It’s research” Abeona grumbled, still refusing to look up from her tablet. “My request log is up to five thousand now”.

Adiona gave a stilted chuckle “Oh yes, I said you could pitch this dumb little ‘Isekai’ idea of yours if you hit five thousand requests...what a shame.”

Abeona finally looked up at her sister. “Shame, what do you mean, shame?”

“Shame I misspoke... I actually meant fifty thousand” Abeona’s sister had a smug smirk on her face.

Abeona started shaking with rage, after all the work she’d done to reach the finish line. Her sister had moved the goalposts, seemingly just to screw with her. “Why are you being such a bitch about this?!” Abeona exploded, throwing down her tablet.

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“So, are you giving up this stupid ‘Isekai project’ idea up then?” Adiona taunted, evading her sister’s comment. “You know like you’ve given up everything else you ever started?”

“This is different” Abeona grumbled. “For once in my existence, I’m actually passionate about something.”

“Typical, the first time you actually put effort in, and it’s wasted on something ridiculous” Adiona remarked.

“It’s not ridiculous” Abeona clenched her fists.

Adiona smirked, “Break is over, back to work dear sister.” Her voice remained tinged with amusement as she gave a sharp, commanding clap.

Abeona gritted her teeth, barely reining in her rage. Ultimately complying, she got up to return to work. “This isn’t something I can just give up on. There’s a real desire amongst humans for Isekai reincarnations, I know there is!”.

Adiona was unwavering, “Then prove it, keep collecting those requests,” she suggested glibly over her shoulder as she left Abeona to her work.

“I Will...” Abeona resolved.

Little did Adiona realise how demand for the service her sister wanted to create was indeed rising. Day by day, week by week, month by month, more and more souls were requesting an ‘Isekai’ styled reincarnation. This led to Abeona meeting the new quota far faster than her sister expected.

“BOOM! Fifty thousand requests!” Abeona crowed in triumph, waving her tablet in her sister’s face.

“Looks like I have a meeting to set up” Adiona admitted reluctantly.

Abeona's mouth dropped; her eyes wide in shock. “Wait really? I thought you’d say you'd actually meant fifty million or something?”

Straightening her otherwise immaculate suit as she stood up, Adiona stared with her cold eyes into Abeona’s glistening ones. “You have a pitch to prepare my dear sister” She declared frostily.

Abeona wound her arm, miming throwing an imaginary baseball. “Trust me, my pitch will knock them right out of the park”.

“It better, because trust me, your plan with be assessed with the utmost scrutiny.” Her sister warned. “I’d advise you to be ready to address any issues your idea might cause.”

“As long as I get a fair shake, that’s all I ask” Abeona gave her sister a grateful smile “Thank you”, before running off to prepare for her upcoming presentation.

Adiona watched her sister leave, before beginning to arrange the meeting on her tablet. She pushed down a small pang of guilt, she had a job to do. Her sister would never understand the problems this ‘Project Isekai’ could cause.

A plan as potentially chaotic as her sister’s couldn’t be permitted. Wouldn’t be permitted. Adiona had tried to spare her, but now? Her sister would have to teach her lesson the hard way.

There were rules and those rules were there for a reason.

Over the next few weeks, Adiona watched as her sister work harder than she ever had before. Even on her breaks, Abeona was typing away on her tablet, mumbling lines presumably from her presentation, and making various other preparations.

Whenever Adiona tried to get a look on just what her sister was planning, Abeona would block her view and wave her finger “Nuh-uh, no sneaky peaky cheeky.” Abeona would insist.

Adiona was almost impressed. She’d never seen her sister so motivated before. It was unfortunate knowing all that effort, was destined to be torn down. She’d see to that.

No matter how much passion were behind them, some ideas were simply too extreme to be permitted. Her sister’s ‘Isekai project’ was in Adiona’s mind, one such idea.

On the day of the presentation, Abeona was disappointed that her sister was nowhere to be seen. There was a note on the side, written in her sister’s usual flowing, elegant penmanship.

“Dear Abeona, don’t embarrass yourself today, or me for that matter. Signed your sister, Adiona.”

“For a goddess, she has surprisingly little faith,” mused Abeona. “What did she mean by don’t ‘embarrass her’? It’s not like she’s going to be there with me.”

After gathering up all the materials she needed for her presentation, Abeona headed to the meeting.

It didn’t take long for her to reach the office where the meeting was taking place. She’d even taken extra precautions to ensure she was on time, something she'd normally not bother with.

She took a steadying breath as she stood outside the intimidatingly large double doors that led to the meeting room. As she did, an oddly familiar emotionless voice called out to her from inside. “You may enter”.

Her palms sweated as she gripped the door handle and pulled the door open. Upon entering the room, Abeona found herself frozen in place in the entrance.

“Take a seat” the voice insisted. Aside from Abeona herself, there were three faces staring back at her.

Two she had expected, they belonged to the manager of their department Janus, the literally two-faced god. The twin faces always made him a particularly hard to read.

The third face was a separate individual. A person Abeona knew all too well, who as usual, had been giving her commands. Her own sister, it was Adiona. From the look on her face, Abeona could tell her sister was ready for war.

Both sisters immediately locked eyes, engaging in an intense stare down. Meanwhile, both faces of Janus, in a rare moment of unity, held mirroring grins. Both sides of him were savouring the growing atmosphere in the room.

The twin faces of Janus spoke in unison. The sounds of one gruff and one soft voice synchronised, piercing the tension between the sisters. “Begin your presentation”.